💧 GU Oncology — 2026-W36

What this page is. Every paper the week's monitor reviewed — including the ones that did not go into the digest. Material marked “Not selected” was reviewed and deliberately left out. It has not been fact-checked to digest standard and is not endorsed. For the curated read, see the digest itself.

Phase 3 RCT (5-year follow-up) in high-risk resected clear cell renal cell carcinoma, published in Annals of Oncology. Confirms durable disease-free and overall survival benefit with adjuvant pembrolizumab, reinforcing it as standard of care post-nephrectomy.

Systematic review and meta-analysis in Clin Genitourin Cancer pooling data on pre-therapeutic PSMA PET imaging biomarkers as prognostic indicators before [177Lu]Lu-PSMA therapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Higher PSMA uptake metrics correlated with better survival and PSA response, supporting use of these imaging biomarkers to aid patient selection for radioligand therapy.

Prospective exploratory biomarker study in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients examining serum preptin as a marker of bone metastasis, published in J Bone Oncol. Findings show no significant difference in preptin levels by metastatic status, offering limited prognostic/diagnostic insight without a therapeutic implication.

Translational biomarker analysis of the phase 3 CHAARTED trial in metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, published in JCO Precision Oncology. Identifies an androgen-metabolism gene panel (APUC-6) combined with AR expression that predicts which patients benefit from adding docetaxel to ADT, potentially informing treatment selection.

Translational study profiling expression of 62 antibody-targetable proteins across metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer biopsies, published in European Journal of Cancer, linking target expression to transcriptomic subtypes and validating findings in an independent cohort. Findings could help guide selection of patients for emerging antibody-based therapies (e.g., PSMA, STEAP1-directed agents) based on molecular subtype.

Retrospective real-world cohort study using the TriNetX database comparing darolutamide-based triplet therapy to ARPI-based doublet therapy in metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, published in Jpn J Clin Oncol. Suggests an overall survival advantage with triplet therapy, supporting its use though limited by retrospective design and modest matched sample size.

Narrative review outlining practical strategies for PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy in advanced prostate cancer, published in Eur Urol Focus. Offers guidance on patient selection, adaptive dosing, and monitoring that could refine how oncologists sequence and personalize this therapy.

Systematic review in Frontiers in Oncology synthesizing phase II/III trials and real-world data on immunotherapy across bladder, kidney, and prostate cancers. Summarizes established and emerging standards including perioperative and combination immunotherapy regimens, useful as an overview for treatment planning.

Narrative review in Oncologist on bone health management in advanced prostate cancer, covering monitoring and bone-health agents alongside therapies with bone-protective effects. Reinforces guideline-based practice of screening and treating bone loss/skeletal-related events in men on ADT or with metastatic castration-resistant disease.

Retrospective cohort study from Vietnam comparing abiraterone versus docetaxel with ADT in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, published in Cancer Control. Offers real-world comparative outcome data but is a small, single-country series without randomization, providing a supportive rather than practice-changing nuance.

Cancer Cell commentary highlighting a preclinical study identifying macrophage-tumor niches that drive chemoresistance in bladder cancer, with PARP14 inhibition able to reverse this protective effect. Mechanistic and preclinical only, without patient outcome data, but points to a potential future strategy to overcome cisplatin resistance.

Retrospective study evaluating the prognostic nutritional index at baseline and follow-up in metastatic prostate cancer patients on androgen receptor pathway inhibitors, published in Discov Oncol. Proposes a nutrition-based prognostic model for survival stratification, but it is prognostic rather than predictive of therapy response.

Large genomic cohort study using paired tumor-normal sequencing to characterize germline hereditary renal cell carcinoma syndrome genes and their associated cancer phenotypes, published in JNCI. Expands understanding of syndrome-associated cancer risks and surveillance needs but does not directly inform systemic therapy selection.

Brief case report/series in Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis describing a successful cabazitaxel desensitization protocol in two metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients with severe taxane hypersensitivity. Suggests desensitization can preserve access to cabazitaxel in select patients who would otherwise be excluded from this therapy.

Retrospective cohort study in patients with de novo metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, published in the International Journal of Clinical Oncology. Finds that PSA halving time during initial systemic therapy predicts time to castration resistance, offering a prognostic marker but not a specific treatment-selection tool.

Phase 1 dose-finding trial of a novel steroid-free micellar docetaxel formulation in chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, published in Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. Reports acceptable safety/PK and preliminary PSA and radiologic responses, but small sample size and early-phase design limit immediate practice impact.

Exploratory post hoc analysis of the phase 3 PEACE-3 trial in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, published in Eur Urol Oncol. Shows faster/greater ALP and PSA responses with enzalutamide plus radium-223 versus enzalutamide alone, but biomarker changes were not linked to clinical outcomes in this analysis.

Retrospective cohort study of PARP inhibitor use and survival among US Veterans with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, published in Clinical Genitourinary Cancer, with attention to outcomes by race. Offers real-world insight into PARPi effectiveness and disparities in a population underrepresented in pivotal trials, though findings are descriptive rather than practice-changing.